UPDATE: Saudi Arabia has said that the surgical paralyzation sentence will not be carried out, the BBC reported Tuesday. According to a message reportedly posted on the justice ministry’s Twitter account, the judge in the case has dismissed demands for such a sentence.

When they say an eye for an eye, they’re not kidding. A Saudi Arabian court has reportedly sentenced a young man to be paralyzed for stabbing his friend in the back — a crime he committed when he was 14 — which left the victim paralyzed from the waist down, according to the Saudi Gazette. In a state...